


Nightguards: A fnaf story

by AnimatronicButters



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: OC, fnaf - Freeform, fnaf au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 02:39:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19098067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimatronicButters/pseuds/AnimatronicButters
Summary: The animatronics came to life and have been a part of our world for twenty years. An elite force of agents known as the Nightguards are sent out to destroy them. Little do they know, these animatronics have thoughts and feelings and just want to be free.(I am very new to Ao3, so if I'm doing something wrong, let me know! Also, the 'graphic depictions of violence' warning is just because it's fnaf anf it's kinda hard to discuss fnaf without some violence.)





	1. Meet Frank (the guy you're probably gonna hate)

"We are abominations." 

An old yellowish rabbit animatronic sat in his office, staring at his hands. He had spent twenty years protecting the young ones in this wretched place. Keeping them safe from the humans that swore to destroy them. And for what?

Humanity was right.

He had practically raised the six phantoms that lived in Fazbears Fright. He knew them so well. He knew they were dangerous. He knew he was dangerous. 

They needed to be destroyed. 

\----

Three Nightguards, the agents tasked with finding and destroying animatronics, trekked through an overgrown path that was only vaguely recognizable as a paved road. 

"I heard that one of them can disrupt electronics with its mind." Bently, a skinny fair-haired man said, touching his gps, as if to make sure it was still there.

"Really? Well, I heard there's one that can telaport." Barton, a little, round woman waggled her fingers as if talking about wizard magic. 

Frank sighed, his feet aching from walking so far, "Actually, there are several that can telaport. They typically can't go very far, however. And of course there are physical limitations to this power, such as-"

"I heard that one of them can wear peoples skin like a suit. Can you imagine that? Animatronic body snatching."

"Man, what if a skin-stealing animatronic is secretly here now? It could be any one of us!" Bently turned to Frank in mock suspicion. 

"Actually," Frank droned, "if there was an animatronic wearing human skin here, we'd be able to tell. While it's true that nobodies actually seen this tactic and lived, we have very good guesses as to how this would look, and it wouldn't look human, I can tell you that."

"All that fake-science talk is exactly what a body snatcher would say to make us think it wasn't a body snatcher." Bently raised an eyebrow, "All part of the disguise."

"Animatronics have many skills, but disguising themselves isn't one of them." 

Barton rolled her eyes, "Frank, you are the only guy I know who can turn monster hunting into something boring."

Frank sputtered, "It's not boring! This knowledge could save our lives one day!"

Bently lightly tapped his holster, "Y'know what might save our lives one day? A gun and a controlled shock."

"Actually, bullets don't really do much against them unless you get really lucky-"

"Okay, smart guy." Barton gestured out to the woods, "why don't you go that way? We'll cover more ground."

"We're not supposed to split up." Frank missed her obvious attempt to get away from him, "It's against-"

"Just radio us if you find something." Bently pushed Frank gently off the road, "Put that knowledge of yours to good use and track down Freddy Fazbear!" 

Frank now realized that they were getting rid of him, "Fine, but when we get in trouble, I'm gonna make sure I mention in my report that this was your idea."

He headed off into the woods with no direction in mind. He imagined actually finding an animatronic. He could shock and imobilize it, and then radio for backup. He could imagine the faces on those two if he actually got one without them.

But then again, if he found an animatronic and it killed him and stole his skin, his immortal soul would never hear the end of it.

He stumbled through the overgrown brush, wondering how this place had ever been part of an urban area. The entire town had been abandoned and left to decay. People were too scared of the monsters to go back.

Suddenly, the heavy leaves and branches fell away, revealing a clearing in the forest. A telephone pole lay across most of the area and pavement struggled to peak through layers of moss and dandelions. On the right there was a squarish form that was covered in ivy and wysteria. It was a building, all right. But was it... The one?

Frank approached steadily, avoiding the area where the front door should be. He decided to walk around the back and try to get in that way. He stepped off the poor excuse for paving and stumbled through the brush around the side of the building. 

It was going well and he felt he was making good time until his leg plunged into a hole and he fell. Frank struggled, feeling the earth start to give way beneath him. He must have been on some kind of sinkhole. He needed to climb out quickly.

Frank grabbed at a nearby branch, but the sudden movement caused the ground to open fully, sending him falling into darkness. 

\---

Thank you for reading! :3 I hope you liked it! If you have any advice or questions, let me know! <3


	2. Meet Freddy and the Gang

"Ha! Check mate!" Chica the chicken triumphantly moved her pawn several spaces in the wrong direction, "Did I win?"

Freddy stared dumbfounded at her display and slowly moved the piece back to its original square, "Do I need to explain the rules again?"

Chica made a face, "Maybe a little."

He sighed and began reciting the rules of chess, just like every time he played with Chica. Which was often. 

Not listening, Chica glanced up at the stage on one end of the room where Bonnie sat, tuning his guitar. Carl the cupcake sat beside him, occasionally nudging him for pats. 

"Now, I want you to look me in the eye and repeat what I just told you, okay?" Freddy had set the entire board back to its starting position and was now looking for confimration that Chica knew the rules.

"Uh... You've got to kill the other players king... Which is this guy." She pointed at the queen.

"That's not... No." Freddy took a deep breath, "The king is the one-"

A loud strumming sound filled the pizzeria. Bonnie had gotten his guitar hooked up to the speakers, "Hey, Foxy!" He called, "Foxy, come over here!"

The curtain to Pirate Cove opened slightly and a thin snout peaked through, "Leave me alone."

"Come on, I need a stage crew." Bonnie pleaded, "I'll pay you!"

"In what?" 

"Uh, M&Ms."

Foxy withdrew his snout, "I can go get my own M&Ms."

"Mhm, okay, but what if..." Bonnie fiddled with his guitar a bit, "You had someone go get them for you?"

Foxy groaned and reluctantly left the cove, "Fine, but you're gonna regret this later."

"I regret most of my choices."

Freddy shook his head, "How about no concert today, Bonnie? I still have a headache from last time."

"That's just the price you pay for enjoying my wonderful performances." Bonnie replied, "Besides I've got a new song. It's dedicated to that spare Bonnie head in the back room. Most beautiful face I've ever seen outside a mirror." 

Bonnie looked slightly choked up for a second, but he regained his composure and pointed backstage, "Foxy! The lights!"

"No! No lights!" Freddy demanded, but the room had already dimmed until there was a sole spotlight focused on the blue rabbit.

Chica laughed and pulled Freddy back onto his seat, "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be as loud as his last one."

"You say that every time and every time he gets louder."

"Did you say 'LOUDER'?" Bonnie gave a little hop, "Well, you're the boss!"

Before Bonnie could strum another chord, there was a loud banging sound. 

"Foxy, what are you doing back there?"

Foxy poked his snout out from the backstage curtain, "That's not me! It's the front door."

"Who is it?" Freddy stood, his ears pushed forward in attention.

A golden bear appeared in the room, without warning, "Nightguards. Get to the basement."

Foxy jumped up onto the stage, snarling, "We're not gonna hide! I can fight them!"

Freddy grabbed the fox by the scruff of his neck and pulled him off the stage, "Golden said we go to the basement, so I better see your bushy tail in the basement!"

Foxy made as if to snap at Freddy, but drew back as the sound of breaking came from the front door. It had been boarded up years ago, but now it was about to break.

"Go now!" Freddy pushed Foxy forward and pulled Bonnie off of the stage, "Chica!"

She was already beside him, having obeyed without question, unlike the others. 

They ran to the kitchen, opened a secret trap door in the back and dropped into the basement. 

"We can hide in here," Freddy said, "And if they find us, there's an escape hatch in the back."

"We can't just abandon our home!" Foxy growled, "If they want us, they're gonna have to fight us!"

"Sure, so then we can end up scrapped." Freddy shoved Foxy into a broom closet and closed the door, "If you blow our cover picking fights you can't win, I won't need to tear you apart cuz they'll already have done that."

Bonnie scrambled behind a shelf, quiet, but obviously dying to say something. He hated watching conflict and often tried to lighten the mood with a few jokes, but now was the time to lay low. Which was his least favorite time of all.

Freddy crawled under a table, realizing that Chica was already under there, "Oh, sorry, I'll go-"

There were footsteps above them. 

Freddy slid under the table, pulling the table cloth down to hide his and Chicas feet. She was very close. She smelled like pizza and cupcakes, which was a weird combination. Feeling her body shiver under his chest made Freddy want to grab her and keep her from moving, but he dared not cause any sound.

Chica drew in a sharp breath, "Carl." She whispered, "I don't have him!"

She began to shift, trying to crawl out of hiding, but Freddy grabbed her shoulders, "Are you crazy?" He hissed, "We'll come back for your-"

The trapdoor fell open with a bang.

Freddy tightened his grip on Chica, hearing her make a small sound of protest. He wanted to shush her, to tell her it was going to be okay, to do something! But all he could do was sit in silence. 

"I thought I heard movement down here and lo and behold... There's a basement." The Nightguards feet hit the floor. Freddy heard at least two more pairs follow. One of them clicked a light switch, which miraculously still worked. 

"I see one- ah... No it's an empty mask." One of the voices wandered over to the table. He must have picked up the empty animatronic head that was sitting on top of it, "We've got to burn these too right? If not, I'm going to take it home and hang it in my man-cave."

"Fazbear memorabilia is illegal." Another one reminded him, "You'll be better off just burning it."

"I guess you're ri-" the voice suddenly fell silent. Freddy could hear him making hushed motions, gesturing to something. He couldn't hear much of his whispering,  but the word 'shelf' fell softly upon his ears.

Bonnie...

Freddy closed his eyes. In a second he debated with himself. He should fight them. Protect his friend. His family. But... But if he tried to fight the Nightguards, he would probably be killed. Him along with the others. Could he take that risk and-

"Screeeee!!!!" Foxys familiar screech cut the air. People screamed and a loud biting sound rang out. With a loud clatter, the storage shelf fell over, probably pushed by Bonnie as the rabbit also joined the fight.

Well, Freddys choice had been made for him.

He stuck his head out from under the table cloth, grabbing a Nightguards leg and throwing him against the wall, "Get to the escape hatch!" He roared at Foxy and Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded and dashed away, scrambling up the ladder to the hatch above. Foxy on the other hand didn't even respond to Freddy, trying his best to take on two Nightguards at once. 

One of them lashed out, a taser in hand, electrifying Foxy. He fell to the ground like a sack of furry potatoes. Chica appeared out of nowhere and punched the guy with the taser, sending him to the floor without any shocks. 

"Chica, get Foxy out of here!" Freddy stood between them and the invaders, doing his best to ward them off.

Chica glanced at the stairs to the pizzeria, lamenting her home and the things she would leave behind, but obeyed, grabbing Foxy and hefting him away from the battle.

It was now Freddy facing off alone against four Nightguards, with more on their way down the basement stairs. His music box turned on, involuntarily, but it seemed to make them feel a bit more unsure. Something about fighting a giant teddy bear to the tune of Toreador March did not sound inviting.

Golden appeared in a quick flash and then the lights flickered and went off. This was no mistake. The humans would have trouble seeing in the sudden darkness, but Freddys eyesight was actually the opposite, improving the darker the area was. 

Instead of using that to fight, Freddy swiped at a Nightguard, catching him off guard and then ran to the exit. The best thing to do was catch up with the others.

A spotlight illuminated him as he grabbed the first rungs of the ladder. Then, before he could think, a shot rang out behind him. Instinctively, Freddy turned around, only to be smacked in the face by the blunt end of a heavy flashlight. He lashed out with his fist, catching the Nightguards jaw and sending him reeling.

The one holding the spotlight clicked a button, changing the mode to strobe. Blinded, Freddy backed up until the metal ladder rungs dug into his back. He blinked, trying to regain his sight, but all he could see was flashing lights.

Someone grabbed the fur at the base of his neck and he whirled around, snarling. They let go and grabbed his shoulder instead, "Come on, climb!"

Freddy recognized Goldens voice and grabbed the ladder. A Nightguard smacked him again with the flashlight, but he grit his teeth and climbed up anyway. Golden made it faster and Freddy was sure he was doing something to ward away the Nightguards, although he couldn't figure out what. 

The trap door opened and they were outside. Freddy breathed in the night air and blinked as his vision slowly returned. It wasn't back completely, but he could make out the shape of Golden in the darkness. 

The older bear slammed the trapdoor shut and pulled a dumpster over the spot, "This won't hold them long, let's go."

"Do you know where the others went?" Said Freddy, standing up.

"A-hem." There was coughing by the treeline and movement as a paw waved at them. Freddy couldn't see them hiding in the bushes. 

"Freddy, what happened to your eye?" Chica asked as he made it to the forest.

"They flashed a light at me. I think it'll wear off soon-"

"No, your eye. It's gone." Bonnie (he guessed) waved his hand over Freddys right eye socket, "You didn't notice?"

"Hm, you can borrow my eyepatch." Foxy laughed dryly. He was crouched on the ground, his tail twitching sporadically. 

Freddy remembered that he had been shocked, "Are you alright? Can you walk?"

"Worry about yourself." Foxy stood shaking slightly. 

"Where do we go from here?" Chica fretted, "Just... Into the woods?"

Bonnie shrugged, "Better than into the Nightguard army on the other side of the restaurant."

"Yeah, let's go." Freddy needed to get back in control of the situation and the only way to do that was get far away from danger, "We run until we find a good place to hide. Then once the coast is clear, we'll come home. Okay?"

The others nodded and they started off into the forest. In a remarkable change if pace, everyone was quiet and serious. Even Bonnie. As they traveled, the animatronics kept coming across roads, crossing them cautiously, careful not to be seen.

Freddy thought he could hear the rumbling of a highway up ahead, "Hey, stop." He pulled Chica back and the other two slowly turned back to face him. (Golden was, as usual, nowhere to be seen, but they had all learned not to worry about that.)

"I think there's a busy road ahead," He said, "It wouldn't be a good idea to try and cross it."

"Well, where else do we go, genius?" Foxy snapped, his eyes glowing silver, "We can't just turn around, now can we?"

Bonnie groaned, "I don't wanna take another step. I welcome death with open arms if it means I get to rest my poor feet."

Freddy growled, "We can't cross the highway without being seen and, as Bonnie pointed out, we're all a little tired. We need to find a place to rest for a few minutes and maybe wait for the traffic to die down."

"You're right." Said Foxy, "I'm sure there are tons of places to hide around here. Like... In tiny bushes and behind trees."

"Or in the trees." Chica said, "We can climb up into these bigger trees. That'll give us a good vantage point as well."

Freddy raised his eyebrows, "That's a good idea, Chica. You heard her everyone. Up."

Bonnie flattened his ears, "In a tree? Bunnies are strictly terrestrial creatures, you guys."

"Yeah, and strictly annoying." Foxy started climbing a tree, doing fairly well for a guy who had recently been tased.

Freddy went to a tree of his own, cursing the Nightguard who had shone that strobe light. He wasn't going to let his eyesight stop him, though and grabbed the rough bark, pulling himself up. He was nearly flat against the side of the tree, gripping on with everything he had.

He glanced down and saw nothing back blackness. Great, even his night vision was compromised. He made himself climb a little higher and then steadied himself on a thick branch, listening for the others. 

Chica was only a few feet to his left, a bit higher than Freddy. She was emitting shakey breaths and he realized she might be crying. He hadn't noticed. 

Foxy was easy to spot, his glowing eyes like spotlights, burning into Freddys brain. One of them disappeared, meaning he must have flipped down his eyepatch. 

Meanwhile, Bonnie was still climbing. Freddy could hear him muttering and whining as he scrambled up the tree, "Guys, I can't go any higher." He pleased, "Can't we just cross the highway, I lied about welcoming death."

Foxy sighed, "There's a good thick branch only three feet above you. Just climb up there and you'll be fine."

The bunny sniffed and inched his way up, "It's ironic that my spirit is so low right now."

Chica gave a half-hearted chuckle, but then gasped in horror, "Guys, look back where we came."

Freddy looked off into the darkness, unable to make anything out. All he could see was a few spots of flickering orange lights through the trees, "Search lights." He muttered.

"Search lights, what? Freddy are you blind?"

"At the moment, yeah-"

"That's fire!" Foxy hissed, "They're burning it down!"

Freddy felt himself falling, grasping the tree harder to keep himself steady. That was Freddy Fazbears pizza. His home. It was burning down.

"N-no, Freddy we have to go back." Chica sobbed, "We can... P-put it out?"

"It's gone, Chica." Freddy replied.

"I left Carl!" She said, "I should have gone back for him! Why didn't you let me go back?"

"Sh!" Freddy snapped, "Do you want to attract their attention?"

"Freddy, shut up!" Foxy said, "For once just let it be."

Freddy wanted to reply, but he followed his own advice and stayed quiet. He didn't really feel like fighting right then anyway.

"Chica." Bonnie whispered, "I've got him."

"What?"

Bonnie was almost paralyzed on top of the high tree branch, but he managed to reach behind where his guitar was strapped to his back and pull out Chicas cupcake, who he had grabbed the second he realized that they were under attack.

"Carl's with me. He was chilling with me on stage earlier, remember?"

Chica made a choked sound of joy, "Thank you." She whispered, locking eyes with him. Oh wait, she was actually locking eyes with Carl... Anyway, she was grateful and that's all Bonnie needed. She stared a few more minutes and then leaned on the trunk of her tree and closed her eyes to sleep.

"Good work Bonnie." Freddy muttered. He was staring off at the flames of the pizzeria. From this angle, Bonnie could perfectly see his exposed eye socket and he felt nauseous. Sure, he knew that under their skin they had robotic parts, but honestly, he would have felt less disturbed at the sight of blood and gore than clean, cold machinery.

Bonnie went to touch his face, jumping slightly as he felt Carl brush against his cheek. He put the cupcake back behind his guitar and went back to what he was doing. He could feel his exoskeleton behind his fur. He drew his hand away quickly. 

"Something wrong?" Foxy whispered across to him, "I mean, other than the obvious."

"No. Just creeped out." He replied, not exactly lying. He was creeped out and that was a result of the obvious issue here. 

"Yeah, sorry for calling you annoying." Foxy said, "I mean, it's true, but... If we're all gonna die out here, I wanna do it on good terms."

"Thanks. I am not sorry for anything I've said to you." Bonnie replied in typical fashion, "But if we're gonna be surviving out here from now on, you and Freddy should stop being at each others throats so much."

Foxy rolled his visible eye, "He could stand to be less..."

"Over-BEAR-ing?"

"... Sure, yeah," Foxy snickered, "He doesn't need to be such a control freak about everything."

"He can hear you, y'know." Freddy sighed, "I'm controlling because I want to protect us. If I hadn't told Chica to take you out of there, you'd be scrap."

"If I hadn't thought for myself and attacked those guards against your order, Bonnie would have been killed."

"Oh yeah, thanks for that." Bonnie had managed to forget the chilling moment he locked eyes with that Nightgaurd. Now it was fresh in his mind and made him want to cry.

"Well, obviously you should think for yourself, but why can't you ever just do what I say without me having to physically drag you into it?"

Foxy opened his mouth to argue more, but snapped it shut with a clang, "Bonnies right. We can't fight like this out here."

"Admitting I'm right?" Freddy huffed.

"Admitting this is stupid." Foxy snapped. 

The two of them continued to bicker, despite their agreement not to. Bonnie closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Their home was gone. They were out in the wild and they probably wouldn't survive to the end of the week. He didn't see how he could rest like this.

But sure enough, shortly after closing his eyes, he slipped into a gentle and dreamless sleep.


	3. Frank Meets Freddy (not the Freddy you're thinking of)

Frank blinked in the darkness, trying to piece together his surroundings. He was in an unfinished basement, next to a boiler. A few folded tables and chairs were shoved against a wall and a door (probably leading upstairs) stood against one wall. Aside from that, the room was empty, with a dirt floor and exposed wiring to cap off the creepy look.

His leg throbbed, and he remembered it being the first thing to hit the ground when he fell. He hoped it wasn't broken. 

Frank grit his teeth and tried to push himself up to a standing position, but quickly fell back down. His leg screamed in protest at the meer thought of moving. 

Thankfully, he had his Nightguard-Issued health kit. All he had to do was put together a splint and-

Creak...

Frank froze, his head snapping up to look at the door across from him. It was still closed. 

"Pain can make you hallucinate things that aren't really there..." He reminded himself. However, he sat in silence for a few seconds, just to be sure.

Frank couldn't hear anything else moving, so he went back to work on the first aid kit. Just as he looked down he heard a pair of heavy footsteps making their way down the steps to the basement. 

Who else would be in this abandoned city? There wasn't another living person for miles, unless of course Frank had managed to stumble across the Location. He shook his head, there was no way he could have been that unlucky. 

But as the footsteps grew nearer, a piece of paper caught his attention. It was half-buried in dirt, but the unmistakable logo was like a slap in the face. The word 'Menu' was typed across the top and a filthy image of a cartoon bear grinned at him from the side of the page. 

Beside the character, the name 'Freddy Fazbear' was printed. 

The basement door opened.

Frank tried to hide behind the boiler, but there was no way to drag himself to safety in time. He had already been spotted.

The animatronic bear was like nothing he had ever seen before. Frank knew that inside, it had a metal skeleton and tons of interlacing wires, but he would never be able to guess by looking at it.

This Toy Freddy model was supposed to have a hard, plastic covering, but instead its skin was covered in short, soft looking fur. Its chest expanded and contracted as it breathed, something it shouldn't be able to do. It's eyes didn't look like glass, they blinked and moved just like a person. Both eyes were trained steadily on Frank.

"How did you get in here?" Freddys voice was ironically silly, sounding almost exactly like his voice from the old Freddy and Friends cartoon. In fact, he looked more like a hyper-realistic cartoon character, than an actual creature.

"I... Uh-Fell." Frank dumbly pointed upward, towards the hole in tbe ceiling above him.

Freddy furrowed his brow, "The gosh dang trapdoor's come loose again, huh? Sorry about that, Buddy, but I guess it's best you fell down here than if you had given us a sneak attack."

"Sneak attack?" Frank edged backward until his back was pressed against the wall. Freddy meandered closer,

"You're a Nightguard, aren't you?" He leaned in close, investigating, "How many of you guys are up there?"

"J-just me." 

"I'm not gonna fall for that." Freddy sat down only a few feet away, his blue eyes not breaking contact for a second, "You tell me everything that you and your gang are planning. Maybe then I'll let you go."

"No, I swear I'm alone." Frank pleaded, "The rest of my scouting party could be a mile away for all I know! I'm the only one who even knows where this place is." 

"That sounds like a lie." Freddy growled. His fur twitched, as if he was shivering with fear... Or perhaps it was excitement.

"It's all t-true." Frank said, "If there were other Nightguards up there, they'd be attacking right now, wouldn't they?"

Freddy furrowed his brow, as if considering, "If I let you go... You could destroy my home and everyone I love. But I... I really don't want to hurt anyone. Even a Nightguard like you." 

Frank didn't expect an animatronic to say those kinds of things. They had always sounded like feral animals in the breifings. Maybe this was a tactic to gain his trust and lull him into a false sense of security? 

Frank remembered the taser on his belt. If he could grab it quickly he may be able to paralyze Freddy and give himself enough time to climb out of the trapdoor. He glanced up at the opening above him. There was no ladder, no stairs, not even a rope. Nothing that could help him escape. Even if he did tase Freddy, he wouldn't be able to get out.

Frank swallowed. The only way out of here was if Freddy let him go.

"I... I don't want to hurt you either, uh, Freddy. Y-you were a big part of my childhood." That was not technically a lie. Freddy had been a big part of Frank's childhood, since he was six when they came to life. Needless to say, his very worried parents rarely let him leave the house and wouldn't let him own any dolls or action figures for fear they would attack him.

"Really? You don't think I'm some kinda monster?" Freddy gave a small grin, "I'm just like anyone else. I didn't choose to be an animatronic. You can see that, right?"

"O-of course!" Frank jumped onto this opportunity, "If I were an animatronic I wouldn't want a bunch of Nightguards chasing me down all the time. I'd wanna chill out, eat pizza and, uh... Do whatever else it is you guys do?"

"Personally, I like playing video games." Freddy said, "Do you like arcade games? I've got some nice, older ones. I've got the high score in most of them. Except one, but it's totally rigged."

Frank laughed uncomfortably, "I hate rigged games. You must be very good at them though. I suck at video games."

"Well, when you've played them as long as I have, they become second nature." Freddy winked, he then became more serious, "I think we'd get along pretty well. It would be really fun to hang out and play games with someone new for a change." He sighed, "But, we're on opposite sides, I guess."

"I wish I could change that." Frank almost felt sorry for the bear, but not sorry enough to forget what it was capable of doing to his body.

"Me too." Freddy straightened up, "I think you're a good guy and I think I trust you. I'll help you out, just please don't tell anyone where we are. In fact, if you can maybe try and sway public opinion about us, get people to stop trying to burn us, that would be great."

"I'll do my best." 

With a wide smile, Freddy picked Frank up into his arms and hoisted him through the trapdoor above, "Good luck, buddy. I won't forget you."

"Neither will I." That was certain. Frank limped off into the woods, stopping only once to fashion a splint. After all, there was no time to wait.

He had found them.


End file.
